Jamaica look to host successful one-day tourney

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Paul Campbell, president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), says he is elated that Jamaica was chosen to stage next month's regional one-day championship.

The championship, which signals the start of the 2010-2011 cricket season, will see Jamaica hosting the region's six traditional cricket territories, the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC), and a team from the recently established WICB/Sagicor High Performance Centre, during the October 12-24 event.

"Last year's hosts, Guyana, did express an interest in hosting the championship, but we made a compelling case for it and were successful," said Campbell, who was informed by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) of the decision on Tuesday.

It is the first major regional championship that the JCA will be hosting since Campbell was elected to office in in 2008, and according to the businessman, he expects it to be staged at a high standard.

Jamaica last hosted the championship in 2004 during the final days of the now-defunct Red Stripe Bowl.

"The objective is to host a very successful tournament. We will do this by ensuring that we execute at a high standard at all levels, and hope that the cricket will be of a equally high quality," said Campbell, who is in his final days of his first term as president of the JCA.

Campbell is expected to be re-elected unopposed for a second term at the JCA's annual general meeting, which is also slated for next month.

The championship will be staged in a similar format as previous years, with Kingston's Sabina Park, the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium and St Catherine's Chedwin Park being early front-runners as the likely match venues.

Kensington Park, Melbourne Oval, and St Ann Bauxite are tipped to be the warm-up venues.

St James' popular Jarrett Park, another venue that was under consideration, has been ruled out due its unavailability.

"We made checks, but we were advised by Jarrett Park's authorities that the venue has been booked for football for the specified period of the competition.

"But we still have the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium in terms of the west," explained Campbell.

Meanwhile, as it relates to sponsorship of the championship, Campbell said none has been confirmed as yet, but his association plans to have discussions with local stakeholders to see what could work best.

"There is no sponsor for the tournament, but we are currently involved in the process of engaging our local partners to see if we can have them on-board," he said.

Campbell, who is also a director of the WICB, also spoke about the inclusion of a West Indies Under-19 team for the second year running.

"The WICB had taken a position that each year outside of the ICC Youth World Cup it will include the Under-19s in regional competitions, and as such, they will be a part of the mix.

"They are our next generation of cricketers and it's all a part of their development," he added.